


One Step Closer

by MarinaScarlet



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Christmas, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-27
Updated: 2012-12-27
Packaged: 2017-11-22 18:10:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,610
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/612723
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MarinaScarlet/pseuds/MarinaScarlet
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Christmas has arrived to Storybrooke, and among the snow and the mistletoe, Mr. Gold invites again Belle to have a hamburger with him. But the date goes in a way that only Gold expected.</p>
            </blockquote>





	One Step Closer

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first Rumbelle fan fiction. It’s a short fic inspired by the snow, the hamburgers, the Christmas ambient in Helsinki and the magnificent music of John Mayer, especially Gravity. And Moulin Rouge OST, mostly Come What May. I’ve listened to many songs writing this but I can’t choose one for the whole fic. I’ve decided to pick up the most especial ones, so you can get more into the fic. So please, enjoy the lecture and the music, dearies.  
> 1.- Gravity – John Mayer (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ys629ROKYtI)  
> 2.- Slow dancing in a burning room – John Mayer (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32GZ3suxRn4)  
> 3.- Come what may – Moulin Rouge (http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=eaKu2u6EmrY&feature=endscreen)

Belle was sitting on the library, in the reception desk, reading a book while she waited Rumpelstiltskin to pick up her. They were going to try again the hamburger due to the failure of the first one, which was interrupted by Regina and the Cora issue. That day was certainly a bad day: she had seen Regina for the first time after the curse broke, and she seemed to be threatened by Cora, a woman who Rumpel and the Evil Queen feared. She had to be very powerful if two people who were enemies were going to unite their strength. 

She went home that evening disgusted and sad: her first date with her true love interrupted by the woman who locked her away both in the Fairy Tale land and in Storybrooke. She locked herself in the library reading and drinking tea, trying to calm herself, but after a quiet moment, in which everything seemed to be alright again, she started to cry. It was going to be the perfect date, but everything went wrong, as always. It was like if somebody didn’t want them to go out together; coincidences, fate, or whatever. She didn’t remember the time she spent crying in the desk, but she fell asleep on it. She woke up in her bed, and by her side was a piece of paper with something written:

  
_My dearest Belle,_   
_I’m so sorry for what happened in Granny’s this evening. This was our day, and I really want to apologize for it. I owe you another “hamburger date”. Of course, if you don’t want to have it, I’ll accept it without hesitation. But if you want, let’s set a day anytime to have it. You’ll choose the day and the hour. It will be a pleasure to have that date again._   
_When you decide, tell me. You can find me in the shop, or at home. I will be waiting for your answer._   
_With love,_   
_Rumpelstiltskin._

Belle smiled and hugged the piece of paper against her breast. She stood up of the bed quickly and put her shoes as fast as she could. She pulled her hair, washed her face, picked up her coat and went to Rumpel’s shop in order to tell him she want to have that date again.

In less than five minutes she arrived to the shop. As she walked in, a familiar voice greeted her.

-Belle... I didn’t expect you to be here.  
\- I’m sort of unexpected, Rumpel. – She smiled. – You saw me yesterday in the library, right?  
-Yes… - He seemed to be really sorry.- You were sleeping on the reception desk, and you were crying. I’m so sorry for what happened in Granny’s. It was supposed to be our special date…  
-Don’t worry. I was upset for seeing Regina. I wasn’t prepared to see her yet.  
-You were really brave, Belle. You didn’t run away in front of her. You didn’t run away from Granny’s. – He took her hand. – You’re still the strong woman I knew in the Fairy Tale Land.  
-I… I suppose so. – She smiled brightly. – Anyway, I’ve come here because you left a note in my bed when you get to the library last night. I want that date again. But with one condition: you must surprise me.  
-Give you a surprise? Of which kind? – He seemed astonished. – I’m not very good giving surprises, dearie…  
-That’s the secret of the surprises, until I’ll see it, I won’t even know what it is about. I leave at your choice the date, the place and any other details that you should consider important. But remember, you must surprise me. Do we have a deal?  
-Of course, darling. We have it. – He smiled. – I promise you to give one of the best surprises of your life.  
-I hope so! – She gave him a short and sweet kiss and started to walk to the door of the shop. – One question before I leave… Did anyone help you to leave me in my bed?  
-Yes. Miss Lucas helped me with that. She had a kind of feeling about you, and we come together to the library. We saw you asleep on the desk and Ruby decided to carry you to your bedroom. Meanwhile, I wrote the note, and when she left me alone in the library, I left the paper on your bed.  
-Ruby and her wolf sense, always helping everybody. I only wanted to know that. Thank you again, Rumpelstiltskin. – She winked at him.

She smiled at her man one more time and she made her way outside the shop. She was really excited about the fact of having another date, and the surprise factor. She really wanted to know what was going to prepare for their second try. Only thing was completely sure, it was going to be something to remember.

The days passed, and so the weeks and Belle didn’t have any notice about the date. She was starting to think that Rumpel maybe have forgotten it; if that was true, she would be very disappointed. She really wanted to have the date again, but it seemed it wasn’t going to come true.

December arrived to Storybrooke, and with it the cold and the snow. Belle was fascinated because she hadn’t seen snow for a very long time, and only seeing it falling make her feel like a child; she was happier. The whole town was covered with snow, and the Christmas ornamentations were filling each building in the city. All those color lights, the mistletoe under some doors, the Christmas trees made her dream of the things she would have like to see in winter in the Fairy Tale Land. She wondered how different things would have been if Rumpelstiltskin hadn’t sent out of his castle and of his life and if Regina hadn’t locked her up. She could have enjoyed the snow, the warmth of a cup of tea before a walk in the forest, the quietness and the security of being with the man that she loved… 

One snowing evening, a letter arrived to the library. Belle didn’t receive much letters, so she was a bit upset with the arrival of that note. The calligraphy was really clear, delicate and careful; she only knew a person who wrote in that way: Rumpelstiltskin. She was really nervous while she was opening the envelope, and she almost screamed when she got the letter in her hands. It was a handmade invitation. Inside the envelope were a rose petal, and the paper smelled like it.

  
_Belle French, you’ve been invited to have a date with Rumpelstiltskin today, the 11 of December at 7.30 on the main library door. He will come to pick you up and together you will go to the place chosen for the event._   
_For this date, you must wear a red dress and black shoes, plus a black jacket. You should find this on your wardrobe._   
_Expect a good night full of surprises._   
_Don’t forget it!_   


I knew he would make it especial. I knew it!, Belle thought while she ran to her apartment in order to find the clothes that Rumpelstiltskin asked her to wear in the invitation. She found the dress, as well the shoes, but the invitation didn’t say anything about the complements, so she had to look for the ones who matched her clothes for that night.  
At 7.30, Belle was ready, waiting patiently for Rumpel on the reception desk. She was really excited about the date, and she was completely sure that everything was going to run perfectly: it was going to be a night to remember.

A moment later, somebody knocked on the library’s main door. She stood up of the chair, picked up her coat and scarf and opened the door.

-Good evening, Rumpel.  
-Good evening, milady. You look radiant today.  
-Maybe your letter has something to do… - She closed the library door and started to walk by Rumpelstiltskin side. – I was really happy when I received it. I was started to think that you’ve forgotten it.  
-I never break my deals, sweetheart. Sooner or later, the date was going to happen. I choose this day because the sky is clear, the streets have snow and it is the Christmas Eve. I think I could give you a wonderful date before that special day.  
-Each day I spend with you is wonderful, Rumpel. – She smiled at the same time she pulled her hand against him. – Well, what are the plans for tonight?  
-It’s a surprise, dearie. You asked me for that and I’m going to give it to you.

Belle laughed at the same time they reached Granny’s. She give a quick look inside the building before they get in, and it seemed to be empty. At that time of the day, the café was always full of people. 

-Rumpel, why is Granny’s empty? – She stopped walking and looked at him.  
-Well, I talked with Madam Lucas to see if I could use his dinner four our date. I promised her I’d take all the costs of closing earlier. – He smiled. – Storybrooke doesn’t have much places in which we could have a date… I know that maybe this isn’t the best idea, but you’ll see why I chose this place and not my house, for example.  
-Let’s see what you’ve prepared for me… - She started walking towards the door of the dinner.

The inside of the building was lighted with candles and soft light. Some of the tables have been removed and there was some music playing in a jukebox. There was a table in the center of the café prepared with the dinner.

-May I take your coat? – He asked as he walked behind her.  
-Yes, please… - She said as she looked around the place. – Have you prepared this?  
-Miss Lucas and her grandmother have helped me. I’m not a good decorator, dearie. – He took her by the arm and walked together to the table. – Sit here, darling.  
Both sat down on the table, and they started the dinner with Belle drinking really fast her iced tea and Rumpelstiltskin saying to her that she should drink slowly. He couldn’t get his eyes out of her; she looked like a princess in that red dress, the princess she used to be before she made the decision of going with him to the dark castle.  
-Belle, I want to ask you something. Was your life good before you come with me? I mean, your father respected you? And what about Gaston?  
\- It was the life of a princess. A very limited life, as I told you that day. I always have to ask my father if I wanted to do something, even going to the library of the castle. He was really protective, and that bothered me a little. I wasn’t a child when my mother died and neither when the Ogre Wars arrived to our kingdom. – She picked up some French fries of her plate and drank a long swallow of her iced tea. – Gaston… It was an arranged marriage, which was going to benefit his father’s kingdom and obviously, ours too. I didn’t like him, and I’ve had to be the rest of my life trapped in another castle, raising our children and maybe seeing him very little, if the wars had continued. I think I wasn’t prepared to be a princess.  
-But with me… You were also trapped in a castle.  
-But with you was different. I mean, I could talk to you; I spent all the day with you, talking, or just being in the same room. I think I couldn’t have done that with Gaston. Never. And that’s the big difference. With you I felt comfortable, as if I had a friend.  
-A friend who turned into true love. – He smiled. – Do you regret coming with me?  
-No, I’ve never thought it. I think it was an opportunity. Maybe the fate wanted us to be together. I enjoyed the time I spent with you in the Dark Castle, Rumpel.  
He stared at her, looking into her, what she had been, and what she was. It was unthinkable that a woman like Belle, with such an open mind, full of concerns and so full of life was dating with him, an old man who had tricked and twisted, made deals and appeared in the lives of most of the people of the Fairy Tale. But fate is whimsical, and it can make that these small miracles happen.

Both finished the hamburgers, and Belle stared at Rumpel in a funny way. 

-What comes now?  
-Hm… Let me think. Maybe there awaits a walk under the snow and a kiss under the mistletoe. – He laughed.  
-You must be kidding me, I know you’ve got something left prepared! – She stood up of the chair. – Come on, Rumpel, tell me!  
-You’ll see it now. – He rose up of the chair and get closer to her. – Have you ever danced slowly?  
-I don’t get it.  
-It’s very simple, dearie. – Only a few centimeters separated both of them. – You put your arms in my shoulders and I put mine in yours. And we start to move slow, guided only by the music. – With a snap of his fingers, the jukebox started to work again. – Let’s try it.  
Belle was nervous because she never done that; she only knew about royal balls, not about slow dancing. But it seemed easy, and really romantic. She caught quickly how to dance in that way.

They didn’t remember the time they spent dancing, but both knew it has been more than they expected and less than they’ve ever wanted. Belle remembered the balls in the big rooms of the palace when she was a child, but dancing with him was far better. 

-I’m sorry we can’t dance more, darling, but my leg… You know, it always gives me problems. – He said while he sat down on his chair.  
-Don’t worry. It has been a wonderful date. – She sat by his side. – You’ve really surprised me, Rumpelstiltskin.  
-I’m glad to hear that. I really wanted to have a date all alone, just you and me, no one else around us. – He picked up his cane and stood up. – I want to keep each moment I spent with you. You were locked, trapped, alone, during 28 years, and I couldn’t do anything to get you back. I thought you were dead until the day the curse broke. But each day since I sent you away from me, I regretted it. I thought about you, about the moments we spent together in the Dark Castle, and the kiss you gave me. I don’t want to lose you again. I don’t want you to leave. Because you’re the only person I’ve loved in my whole life, Belle. And I will love you until the last day of my existence. 

The girl started to cry; she knew Rumpelstiltskin loved her, but she didn’t know that he loved her in that way. And that completely caught her heart. 

They were made for each other.

She was going to fight to be with him, each day, each minute, and each second. And he was going to do the same. 

Come what may, they would be together until the rest of their lives. 

Under the night and the snow, he walked with her until the main door of the library. And beneath the light of the moon and the mistletoe, with snowflakes falling around them, they sealed one of the most wonderful nights of their lives.

-I love you.  
-And I love you too.


End file.
